Betray Me Not
by chasingcolors
Summary: [She'd dead...because of you.] It's not easy have an older brother who despises you. So what is Mina to do? Beat him. Even if she has to join up with Boris. Now Mina must decide where her loyalties lie... before it's too late. slight KaiOC Chapter 8 up!
1. Chapter 1

Yeah, my first fic. Suprisingly, it's not a Naruto fic, seeing as it's my all-time favorite anime/manga and my obsession. Yay for Naruto! But I love beyblade too. I really hope this doesn't suck, cause the idea just sorta popped into my head... So… yeah. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. If I did, there would be way more kickass girls.

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_Thump. Thump. Thump._

The cheap, rubber ball soared to the ceiling and back. Glittering, Amber eyes stared blandly at the painfully plain white ceiling. Coppery hair was splayed beneath her, as she idly bounced the ball again. Mina sighed in frustration.

_Damn. If I knew this stupid town would be so boring, I would've run away before we moved. What happened to 'you're gonna have so much fun, sweetie'! What a joke._

Mina Kingston had just moved to Japan a week ago with her dad and her stupid older brother. This was the _third_ time they had moved in two years, and she was sick of it. There was no way she was gonna give any of these people a chance. Why should she? Even if she bothered making friends here, she only have to leave them behind again in a few months.

_Yep, just like all the other goddamned times, s_he mused._ Dad will find some job here, say he loves it, and reassure me that this time we'll be here to stay. And then a few months later, wham! We'll be packing our bags to some foreign country. Charming._

On top of that, all these weird people are fanatics about some idiotic sport call 'bey-blades' or whatever the stupid things are called. Just like my _dear_, older brother. She grunted spitefully. Needless to say, Brooklyn fit right in. _Oh, how I hated him._ Smiling his stupid charming smile, when he's actually nothing like the fake little angel he pretends to be, kicking me around, patronizing me about beyblading when she didn't even give a crap about it; blending right in with all the other stupid bladers.

_I almost envy him, though._

_Almost_.

Sometimes, when she looked at the energetic crowd of bladers huddling around their beydishes, gracefully launching their blades, and cheering passionately for the winner, she almost, _almost_ wish she could be one of them. I mean, if they'd be willing to waste their whole day standing around a beydish and launching their blades over and over again, it couldn't be all that bad. It could be worth a try. The Beyblade shop wasn't too far away...

She grunted in resentment, the corners of her mouth curling in a wistful smirk. _Yeah right, when hell freezes over._

But just as soon, the smirk slid off, as she thought about her brother, Brooklyn, drawing cheers and huge attention from the crowd as he masterfully wielded his blade with that weird animal chip thingy on it.

_I could give it a chance…_ she shook her head furiously mentally slapping herself for even thinking it. _No freaking way! Just because everyone's playing with their fancy beyblades doesn't mean I have to._

Mina could never beat her brother in anything. It didn't matter whether it was chess, videogames or whatever. He was so annoyingly _perfect_, the ultimate obstacle she could only dream about overcoming. That's what older brothers are for, she supposed. And on the huge 'I can't beat Brooklyn in...' list, beyblading was right on top.

But as her eyes drifted closed, she thought unconsciously, _But that could change, one day..._

"Mina! Could you organize the boxes in the attic? Thanks!"

Mina, who had been perfectly happy lying on her bed, sat up disgruntled.

"Gee, thanks for giving me a say in it…"

Rolling her eyes, Mina reluctantly threw her warm sheets down, not caring if she left it messy. She stomped past Brooklyn's room, kicking the door as she went past. She could hear him cursing. She caught a few words, such as, "Damn that stupid bitch—" Mina smirked.

Then she trudged up the wooden stairs to the attic. Unlike the rest of the house, this room looked disheveled and dusty. The unpainted wood was devoid of anything to relieve it of it's emptiness, and besides the many cardboard boxes and the single window in the front, the room was bare.

She walked over to the boxes. "How the hell do you organize _boxes_?" she muttered irritably. "The freaking stuff's already in them."

She plopped herself down on the cold, hard floor and slid the nearest box to her. The label on the box read "junk". Mina snorted. "Yeah, that's the only thing we _do _have."

She pried open the box and peered inside. "Crap, crap—hey, a nickel!— crap, oh, would you look at that! More crap!" Quickly bored by that box, she wedged the next one open, also labeled 'junk.' She dumped it's contents out onto the floor and looked through them.

"Geez, we have _nothing _interesting..." she mumbled to herself.

But as soon as she said it, something partially exposed beneath all the random items glittered temptingly. A shiny black corner poked out from beneath the items.

"That sure as hell isn't crap…" she mused, reaching for it. She pulled it out and held it up so she could see it. Her face contorted with disappointment. "I take it back. It's crap."

The 'black shiny thing' turned out to be one of those 'beyblade' things. It's edges were gracefully curved and as sharp as if it had just been sharpened. Streaks of midnight blue swirled their way in with the onyx black. She hated to admit it, but she kinda liked the thing.

Mina observed it intently. "I wonder how this got here. I don't remember seeing this before. Maybe it's one of Brooklyn's old ones..." she trailed off as she noticed what was in the center.

There was a small blue chip with a picture on it. On it, a malevelont scarlet fox was posed to strike, seeming as if it would just leap out of the picture. It's mouth was set in a menacing grin, with jagged, razor sharp teeth. Not one, but nine fiery tails waved behind it. The creature's eyes were closed.

It was the very image of chaos. How nice. But she felt drawn to it, like that feeling of déjà vu, or when you feel you've met a person before when you've really never seen them before in your life.

Mina turned the blade over again so the light could hit the razor sharp edges. "It is kind of pretty… I suppose..." She had never seen a beyblade as attractive as this. Not even Brooklyn's beyblade could compare. Not that she liked how beyblades looked or anything.

She sighed. "Ah, screw it. I'm keeping this baby."

She pocketed the blade, not really thinking she'd ever use it. Oh, how wrong she was.

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Yeah… it probably sucked. Well, it is my first fic... Sue me. Just no flames, all right? - You know you wanna review! I've got candy! And there's one really important sentence in here, even though it seems subtle. If anyone's a Naruto fan, you'll know where her bitbeast came from. See ya! 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I. DO. NOT. OWN. BEYBLADE.

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"Damnit, why the hell is this so hard?!" she cried in frustration, as her new beyblade clattered to the ground once more.

_This sucks._

In the forest behind her house, Mina had settled in a clearing where (she hoped) nobody would come across. She had bought a ripcord and launcher from the local beyshop (in disguise of course, there's no way she'd risk someone she knew seeing her there—yet).

After arguing with herself for awhile, she'd decided to give beyblading a chance, _just a _chance. How hard could it be? Brooklyn just started beyblading a couple of months ago, and he's practically a prodigy at it.

_And obviously, I'm no prodigy…_

Needless to say, she wasn't having much success. At all. She'd already been there for at least a couple of hours to practice. She hadn't gotten too far.

Mina wasn't stupid, far from it actually. Her report card was always full of A's and B's. Not that it gave her a cause for celebration. Because _Brooklyn's_ grades were always _perfect_, making her dad go all ga-ga over him.

_Ooh, his perfect little angel. I wish. Then I could rip off his wings and tear off his little halo and kick him down into Hell._

But even if she was smart, it had taken her a good twenty minutes just to figure out how to set up her launcher, ripcord, (she had no step-by-step guidebook or anything) and her blade. After that, her progress seemed to just stop, like a stream freezing into stiff ice.

No matter how many times she tried, no matter how much effort she put in, the stupid beyblade just wouldn't launch. She'd yank the ripcord like she'd seen all the kids in the park do, but every single time, the hunk of metal would just clatter uselessly to the ground instead of spinning like it was supposed to. She was beginning to regret ever picking up the accursed thing.

"Why—the hell—won't this thing work?! What am I doing wrong?!" she yelled, finally throwing the blade to the ground after her millionth failure.

"All of those dumb little kids can do it fine. They'd think I was a complete loser if they saw me." She plopped to the ground, shame-faced. "Why did I even think I could have a chance at this," she muttered reproachfully. "I'll never be nearly as good as Brooklyn."

Brooklyn.

_Brooklyn._

Her brother. Her rival. Her greatest obstacle. He was the reason she had even given this stupid beyblading thing a chance. Was she really just going to hand him another victory? Like all the other times before? Was she just going to lie down and let him walk all over her?

She could just imagine his smirking face taunting her, his turquoise eyes glittering with malice. _"You might as well just give up, little sis. You know that I'll always be better than you. It's a fact. You might as well accept it."_

Mina's fists clenched as a bitter scowl crossed her face, wanting to punch the image and wipe that smirk off his face

_Like hell._

* * *

**An hour later…**

"Screw Brooklyn! This stupid thing is impossible!" she said, throwing the blade down again.

_I guess you can't beyblade on will alone… damnit… _

Mina groaned is frustration. "I've been doing the same freaking thing for hours— this blade is cursed!" She sighed. "Maybe it got all screwy in that box. Maybe I should just get a new one…"

"Well, you'd be a moron to just throw it out. You could get the chief to look at it."

Mina whirled around. _Great. Person number one has found me looking like a total idiot. Joy._

He was a short little kid, probably a couple of years younger than her, with flaming red hair and large green eyes. On his forehead was what appeared to be a spiky birthmark. His clothing was jagged and ripped-looking at the end. She had to repress a snort. _Well, well, little tough guy, huh?_

"Who the hell are you?" Mina asked boredly, not even bothering to put false friendliness into her voice. _He's probably one of those wannabee blader kids who think they're so cool 'cause they can blade. _

His face fell. "Man, you don't know me? I was one of the World Champs, dimwit! I knew it! Tyson always gets all the fame—"

_An idiot and a hothead…_

She interrupted his ranting about Tyson by saying, "You know, it would help if you could just _tell me who the hell you are_, like I asked in the first place."

He cut off, blinking. "Huh? Oh yeah! I'm Daichi, the super-awesome beyblader, one of the world champs you know, I went up against Ivanov too—you know him, right, stuck-up Russian—way too much hair gel—— and of course, I'm the wielder of Strata-"

Mina smacked her forehead. _If he doesn't shut up soon, I'm gonna staple his mouth shut and duck tape it shut and throw him in a metal cage—_

"Look kid, I really don't have time to waste on you. So, if we can just pretend we never—"

"Oh yeah! The reason I came here!" She could have cried in exasperation. "Well, like I was saying, your blade's probably not the problem. Not unless it's an old one or something, but yours doesn't really look old and stuff. You could the chief to look at it if you want—he's a whiz at that kinda stuff. If that's not it, it's prob'ly the ripcord that's off. Sometimes with the heavier blades, a short cord just won't do the trick—"

Mina blinked in surprise. _So, he goes from hothead, to blabbermouth to some beyblade-expert. Talk about split personalities…_

"— so a longer ripcord just gives it that spin that'll keep it going for a while. I mean, the endurance depends on the strength of the arm too. I mean, you don't see sissies going around launching beyblades. You gotta put that muscle into you launch. Lookie here…"

Daichi pulled out a shiny purple blade, along with a launcher and ripcord. She noted with curiosity that in the center of his blade was a yellow chip with a dragon on it. _So, he's got one of those things too…_

Mina watched intently as he set up the launcher, ripcord and blade. _That's just how _I _did it, _she scoffed.

"3..2..1.. let it rip!!!" He yelled (probably for dramatic effects) as he launched. Unlike hers, Daichi's blade soared into the air, spinning rapidly, before gracefully landing perfectly on its tip.

She scowled a bit. _I set up mine the exact same way… how come his worked so well?_

"See? It's easy! Just pull the ripcord hard and fast—but not too fast and edgy, or it won't work. Look—you try now."

She began to set up her blade uncertainly. _Man, if I screw up in front of this brat, I'll look like a moron…_

"Okay then…" she said doubtfully. "Let it rip!" She yanked the ripcord like he instructed. Unlike before, her blade soared gracefully off the launcher and onto the ground, spinning fast.

She gaped. _It worked?! But I didn't really do anything different…_

"See, you got it!" Daichi grinned broadly. "I oughtta start my own class—I could call it, 'Daichi's Awesome Bey-Class for kids who wanna be as cool as me'! Yeah! My class will be _way_ better than Tyson's dumb one! Anyway, I gotta go. Later, uh, what's your name again?" He said sheepishly, "Kinda forgot to ask…"

_With all the talking you did, it's no surprise…_

"It's Mina. And, uh, thanks, I guess…"

He grinned again. "No problem! Smell ya later!"

"Uh, right…" She watched him running off into the forest, his red head disappearing into the green.

_Interesting kid…_

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Yeah… that's Chapter 2. I just added Daichi in; it just sorta would sound cliché if I made it one of the bladebreakers. He sure talks a lot, doesn't he? Maybe he sounded a bit too smart… Yays, I wrote almost 4 pages. Okay, it's not that much, but it's a lot for me. Anyway - review please? You know you want to! 


	3. Author's Note

Crap, the little star thingies aren't working...

Hey! Sorry that I haven't updated in a while, scream at me if you wish, but this isn't a chapter. T.T I just have to say that this story probably won't be updated anytime soon. You know, school's a bitch and all. Plus... I don't really feel like writing. C'mon people, reviews make me HAPPY! Sadly, hardly anyone's reviewed 'sniff'.

I have the plotline for this all worked out, but... unless I get reviews 'waves finger' no chappies for you! Not that I'm trying to be mean or anything, but I really have no motivation for writing this story... And if I get no reviews, I'll just discontinue it or delete it.

So... if you like this story, please PLEASE review, and if you do, I'll post another chapter. - Chapters are GOOD. Reviews are even BETTER.

Oh, and if you want a pairing in this story, you can vote I guess, even though I'm leaning towards KaiOC... and _absolutely no DaichiOC_, for the person who was asking. :D

So...yeah.

PLEASE REVIEW! XD


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own beyblade… or Naruto… sobs

Blah normal

_Blah_ Mina's thoughts

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_I can't believe I'm actually doing this…_

The day was sickeningly cheery, and the clinks and clanks of beyblades clashing against each other rang throughout the park, accompanied by the cheers and yells of the bystanders. Little crowds formed in clusters around each beydish, most of which were already occupied.

_Damn, there just _had _to be so many people here today._

As she peeked around the edge of the tree, Mina gripped her beyblade tightly, its edges gleaming in the afternoon sun. Her launcher and ripcord were tucked into her belt like she had seen other kids do.

_C'mon, you can do this… you know that you're better than these little kids…_

Not quite true. Since her brief meeting with Daichi, she had improved a bit. She could launch like a pro and make the blade move perfectly according to her will. But she couldn't master all those fancy moves she'd seen Brooklyn do no matter how much she practiced.

_Well, it's now or never I suppose…_

She stepped out of her hiding place and numbly approached the beydish, joining the crowd already there.

_God, what now? Am I supposed to challenge somebody… how embarrassing…_

She shook her head. _I guess I'll just wait for somebody to challenge me… however long that'll take…_

Mina looked at the battle that was currently going on in the beydish. Two boys, probably a couple years younger than her, were fighting it out in the dish… like sissies. They barely touched each other's blades, only circling cowardly and occasionally hitting each other. _Jeez, that's all they can do? Even I can do better than that, and I just started three weeks ago…_

Regardless, the crowd was cheering like there was no tomorrow, seemingly not noticing just how bad the two opponents sucked. _Unless all of them suck this bad—_

"Hey, you."

She tuned around, hair swishing and eyebrows raised. _Mmm? Is he talking to me?_

His blue eyes met her own. _Guess so… _

He cocked his head to the side arrogantly. "I haven't seen you around here before. I'm Maric." _Does it look like I care?..._

"Mina." She said bluntly.

"You blade?" He proudly took out his red blade, letting the light hit it.

"You could say that."

He smirked, tossing his wavy brown hair, trying to look impressive. _What a little punk…_

"Up for a challenge, sweetie?" _Don't punch him, don't punch him, don't—_

"You bet, loser." His face fell, and she smirked.

They went to one of the unoccupied arenas and took their places. A few people wandered over to their arena, looking hopefully for a good match.

"Don't expect me to go easy on you, sugar," he said, his cockiness coming back as he smirked. _Is that bastard underestimating me?!_

She smirked back. "Don't expect me to spare your ass, _honey._" His smirk faded. _Ah, it's so fun to insult people._ (A/N We know Mina. We know.)

They both set up their launchers, getting into position. Her amber eyes narrowed in concentration, her fingerless gloves keeping the sweat from her palms from interfering with her grip.

"3…2…1… LET IT RIP!" They launched their beyblades simultaneously. Just like in practice, her blade soared gracefully into the dish. Unfortunately, so did his.

Maric smirked again—_ that is getting really annoying_ – and immediately started an onslaught of lightning-quick strikes on her blade. _Damn, I was hoping he was another amateur…_

His blade zigzagged in a blur, slamming into her blade from the ride. Mina's fists clenched, _Calm down… it looks like his main strength is speed, I've gotta use that against him…_

As Maric's blade moved to strike again, she moved her blade quickly to the side, letting his blade fly past hers. Then she sent her blade hurling towards his. Maric's blade crashed into the side of the dish, but it still held its ground.

Ignoring the whoops and cheers from the crowd, Mina prepared herself as the annoying boy's blade came hurling back. Again, she used his momentum against him as she moved to the side. This time she circled back to catch his blade in the side.

She saw Maric wince as his beyblade slammed against the side of the dish, and smirked in satisfaction (A/N and she thinks _he _smirks a lot) but it faded as Maric grinned maliciously. After his blade recovered, he sent it flying up into the air. _What is he doing?..._

She saw his plan too late as it hurled towards her blade. His beyblade crashed into hers, slamming it against the dish and almost causing a cloud of rubble to block her view. _C'mon, you useless blade… hang in there… I can't lose to this ass…_

To her relief, her beyblade was still spinning, but barely. It wobbled slightly, its rotation speed going down. She clenched her teeth, beads of sweat forming on her pale skin. _I've got to finish this, and soon._

But Maric showed no mercy as his blade slammed against hers over and over. She tries to dodge, but his blade outmatched hers in speed.Damnit…

Trying a new method, she pulled her blade back and waited for his blade to come to her. Then she sent it flying towards Maric's blade. Both blades collided, grinding against each other in a clashing test of strength. Mina smirked (A/N again…) _He's got speed, but I've got power…_

Maric's blade was sent flying backwards, smashing into the beydish's side. He clenched his teeth.

He forced a smile, which turned out as more of a grimace. "You're good, I'll give you that. But not good enough."

He gave a menacing smile, before waving his hand forward. On cue, his blade streaked towards Mina's. She could barely register a thought before her blade was sent soaring into the air, coming dangerously close to the rim. _No,_ no,_ NO!_

Hanging on by a thread, Mina's blade clattered on the rim, spun uncertainly, then dipped downwards into the arena. She could've cried in relief. _Man, that was too close…_

Not giving her time to recover, Maric's blade, now a reddish blur, hurled towards her's again. She barely dodged in time. _Damn, I can't let him catch me off guard. And his blade got even faster than before, and it was faster than mine to start with…_

Maric sent his blade zigzagging towards her, the red beyblade barely visible because of its speed. Mina clenched her fists. _I can't keep this up, he's too fast for me… C'mon you stupid blade, show me what you've got!_

And oddly enough… it did. Unknown to her, the fox demon on her bit chip stirred. It's eyes, which were closed before, blinked lazily open.

A red _something_, like a warm, sheer fire started leaking out of the blade. The thin fire cloud slowly spun in a flickering spiral, wrapping around her blade like a cloak. Maric stood dumbfounded as her blade gained more spin and momentum, the red cloud of fire spiraling up faster and faster. Mina's face paled.

_W-what the hell's happening?_

* * *

Well, lucky you. I posted a new chapter :D Yays! Well, more like I got bored, and ideas just sorta hit me. Mina battles in her first bey-battle! Dun dun dun… who will win?! Oh and if you're wondering, if I put in a pairing, it's kaioc. But even if I do use Kaioc, it will be very minimal… T.T I love romance, but I can't write it that well… plus, you won't see Kai for a few more chappies, 

REVIEW PLEASE! I _update_ when people review! hinthint


	5. Chapter 5

:D Ever had Mountain Dew Code Red? HOLY. CRAP. IT'S. AWESOME. Heehee, it's got a lotsa sugar… Mmmmm, sugar HYPERNESS! bounces Hyperness is GOOD FOR THE SOUL! Yeah.

Please excuse any random moments of hyperness throughout the story. Yeah.

Disclaimer: I no own Beyblade. Me sad. Me very sad.

Meep - regular

_Meep _- thoughts/flashbacks

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Recap: 

_And oddly enough… it did. Unknown to her, the fox demon on her bit chip stirred. It's eyes, which were closed before, blinked lazily open. _

_A red something, like a warm, sheer fire started leaking out of the blade. The thin fire cloud slowly spun in a flickering spiral, wrapping around her blade like a cloak. Maric stood dumbfounded as her blade gained more spin and momentum, the red cloud of fire spiraling up faster and faster. Mina's face paled._

W-what the hell's happening?

* * *

From the other side of the barbed wire fence, shaded by thick trees, a pair of eyes narrowed from behind (ugly) goggles. He watched the match with interest, his gaze never leaving the beydish, though it was now surrounded my a small crowd. 

_A bitbeast, eh?_

The said man's lips curled upwards in satisfaction.

* * *

Mina shielded her face with her arms, her hair whipping backwards from the energy that streamed from her beyblade (**A/N** actually, it's her bitbeast… heheh, she doesn't know that…) 

_Where's it coming from… _

The red "fire" spiraled up, emitting a sort of warmth, though not at all comforting. It radiated a demonic aura, sending goose bumps down her neck. _When I asked that stupid blade for help, I wasn't thinking of _this…

The red substance stopped flowing for a moment. It seemed as though it had frozen, before it plummeted down _into_ her blade. Her beyblade seemed to be absorbing all of the fire up like a sponge. It soaked up all of the red energy, and for a moment, all was still, like the calm before a storm. Then, the substance seemed to leak out, and it formed a tiny cloud around her blade, like an armor.

_Okay, I don't know what just happened, but I'm hoping it was good…_

Her blade was spinning so fast, it was barely visible within the cloud of 'fire'. The 'fire' seemed to be giving it explosive energy. Her blade did not move from its spot, as if waiting for her command.

…_yeah… I think it's good… (A/N no shit Sherlock)_

Testing the waters, Mina gave a little flick of the hand. Her beyblade surged forward at lightning speed, so fast it was nearly invisible, a speed that far outstripped even Maric's. In that moment, it seemed as if a small bomb had just gone off.

BOOM!

Dust and fragments of plastic and metal sprayed everywhere in a downpour. Mina crisscrossed her arms in front of her to take the blow, turning her head to the side and shutting her eyes tight. Tiny cuts ran all down her arms, tiny droplets of blood leaking out. Her hair whipped backwards from the shockwave

Then suddenly, it all stopped. Mina slowly opened her eyes. The beydish was _gone_—completely obliterated until only scraps and tiny shards remained. Black burn marks streaked outwards in a jagged circle. And in the middle of the circle? Her blade, spinning innocently, not a single mark on it.

Her eyes widened. _How…?_

As for Maric's blade--shattered into millions of dust-sized shards, impossible to repair. It was as if a building had been dropped on top of it.

"Y-you—you…" He spluttered out, still in shock. "How…"

He stared at her dumbfounded, his eyes wide. His cool composure had evaporated. Then, he turned and ran out of the park.

_Usually, I'd laugh at a time like this, but—_

Mina slowly looked around. Most of the beybladers in the park had come to watch, their match drawing everyone's attention. Each of their faces bore shock and awe, some with—fear?

_--I don't think anyone else'll be laughing…_

With the curl of a finger, her blade soared back into her hands, still warm and toasty from the friction. Trying to appear indifferent, she strode calmly out of the park, trying to ignore the gaping and stares from the bystanders.

* * *

The man behind the fence lifted up his goggles, sneering. 

_Good, very good…_

He chuckled lightly, murmuring to himself, "Problem solved. She's the one."

His grin broadened, giving his pale face a maniacal look. "We'll meet soon, Kingston…"

* * *

As soon as she disappeared from the park, Mina sprinted towards her home, her cool demeanor vanishing to be replaced by distress and confusion. 

She swung open her door and quickly stepped inside. She listened for a few moments. Silence.

_Thank god… Brooklyn's not here. _She scowled. _Not that he's ever home anymore…_

She strode through her house and out into the garden, with its many flowers and bamboo fountain. The fountain had always been a source of peace and soothing, calming the mind just by looking at the water trickling down the wood. Right by the fountain, surrounded by the cherry blossoms and their gentle petals… she always came here. Many memories lay within here…

_Flash_

_-_

_Her father's amber eyes closed as he shook his head. "I'm disappointed in you, Mina. Why couldn't you be more like your brother?"_

_- _

_Flash_

_-_

_Brooklyn's lips curled in a sneer, though his eyes were cold. "You're pathetic. Face it. You'll never become anything. All you are is a needy—little—weakling."_

_-_

_Flash_

_Jade eyes narrowed at her. "You—you bitch! It's your fault! Mother died because of _you_!"" _

_-_

_Because of you—_

_-_

_--she's dead._

_-_

_Because of you._

She shook her head furiously, her heart clenching painfully. _No, no, NO! Sh_e breathed in deeply, though her nails dug into her palms. "That's all in the past. It doesn't matter…"

She knew it was a lie.

For six years—six damned years—her life had been spiraling downward. Ever since that incident…ever since her mother died…

Perhaps it had been her fault after all. Her mother been in the car with her, driving to—to—

_I can't even remember…_

It wasn't her mother's fault. It was dark---so dark---and there was a man in a truck. Drunk, probably. He hit her mother's car straight through the windshield. In the moment before the collision, her mother had wrapped herself around Mina, shielding her.

She was dead before the ambulance could come.

But not Mina.

Only a few broken bones and gashes, but she was still alive. And her dad and brother hated her for it.

In one night, her happy family had been ripped away from her. And to top it all off, it had been her birthday. What a nice little present.

After that, her father isolated himself from her, barely even acknowledging her as his daughter, talking to her only when necessary.

Her brother was worse. Brooklyn, who had once been like her best friend, abandoned her without hesitation. Having no one else, he turned to blading, and shut himself off from her completely. Except when he was busy stepping on her, making sure that she'd never forget his hate. His jade eyes, which had once been so full of warmth, turned icy. Especially when they were focused on her.

And she realized that the brother she once had was gone. So in turn, she hated him back. Hated him for accusing her of being the cause of her Mother's death. Hated him for spiting her. Hated him for hating her.

And that was the only thing that got her by. Her hate. Her bitterness. Her spite. She really had nothing else to live for.

But.

When she first looked at her blade, something sparked inside of her. Something she hadn't felt in so long, it felt foreign.

Hope.

And when she was blading, it was as if she was truly alive. She wasn't some dead shell who dwelled in her past—she was somebody else. Someone new.

There was a time when she despised beyblades. After her brother had turned on her, she needed to blame something. So she blamed beyblading for being the cause. She didn't know what else to blame but that, other than herself. And nobody likes it when they know that something is their fault. But that didn't matter anymore.

She raised her hand to her eyes, which still clutched her onyx blade. Her lips curled upwards in a half smile as she stared at it. "You're causing me so much trouble. I should hate you, Kyuubi. "

She frowned. _Kyuubi? _Where had that come from? She dismissed it.

Mina dropped her blade on the ground, and it lay cushioned on the sleek grass. "But somehow, I can't." Her eyes closed, a half-hearted smile creeping onto her face.

"I can't beat Brooklyn without you, can I?"

"You couldn't beat Brooklyn anyway."

Her head shot up, her eyes wide.

"Who—"

She spotted a tall, pale man in a green trench coat. His purple hair clashed horribly with his long coat, and bulging goggles obscured his eyes. One word came to mind.

_Freak._

"I don't know who the hell you are or what you want, but I'll kick your sorry ass if you don't get out of here _now_!" She said threateningly. She didn't even register that he had mentioned Brooklyn. All she cared about was that there was a creepy stranger in her garden.

So what did she do? She threw a rock at him. A nice, pointy, heavy one.

It hit his goggle lens, causing it to crack. He winced and cursed a lovely rainbow of swears.

"Why you—" He took off his broken goggles and threw them aside, only to be greeted with a nice little view. Mina had her blade, ready to launch, aimed straight at his head.

"You've got five seconds to get out of here."

To her delight, he actually looked a bit intimidated, but quickly regained his composure. "Just hear me out—"

"One."

"Just give me a moment—"

"_Two_."

"I have a proposition."

Mina raised her eyebrow. "Oh? Make it quick, goggle-freak."

He looked disgruntled. "I saw your match at the beyblading park—"

"Your point? _Three._"

"You're blade itself may be strong, but you really have no technique whatsoever."

Her eyebrow twitched. "If you think you can stalk me to my own house, and then insult me, you can take that stick right over there and shove it up your—"

"_Listen._ My name is Boris Balkov. I happen to be an accomplished beyblader. I can teach you things that nobody has ever seen. _I can make you unstoppable."_

Mina scowled. "And what makes you think I'd want that?"

He grinned knowingly. "You want to beat your brother, don't you?"

_Damn you._

* * *

Ugh, My hyperness wore off by the end of this chappie. It's just too depressing. Was it too long? Well, there ya go. That's most of Mina's story. MOST of it. So, that's why she's such an Emo-king. Well, not quite as bad as Kai's past, but hey, it's pretty damn bad, huh? Sorta. Kinda? Oh well. Oh and I lied. The pairing is no longer KaiOC. Sorry, but it's gonna be DaichiOC. Yep. 

cough Y'know, reviews equals me happy which equals chapters. So… REVIEW! Oh and by the way, has anybody ever heard of the anime Naruto?? I lurves it.

-

You know, if you review, perhaps I'll change the pairing back to KaiOC.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey, I'm back. Oh, and about the last note from chapter 5? I was kidding—it's not DaichiOC. It's still KaiOC. . Eww, Daichi and Mina… anyway, whoopee for me! I updated! does the happy dance Yays!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Beyblade or Naruto. Which sucks.

* * *

-

"Where are we going again?"

The pair walked down a dank, stone hallway, lit by dim candles. The sounds of their shoes against the hard stone was the only noise throughout the hallway, until the man gave a sigh.

"Away from Japan." He said, clenching his teeth.

Mina smirked innocently. "Okay. So where's that, exactly?"

His eye twitched.

"_My. Headquarters."_

"Ooooh. So what're we gonna do there?"

The purple-haired man hit his face with his hand, cursing under his breath.

"God-damned kid."

Mina smiled in triumph. _Hey,_ _I agreed to be his apprentice. Listening to him wasn't part of the deal…_

Boris came to a halt beside a wooden door and swung it open. As he picked up the phone and started dialing some number, she examined the room. There wasn't much inside. It was just a plain old office. There was a desk, a fancy computer, some scattered papers…

Mina squinted at one of them, though it was partially concealed by other random papers.

_--that are believed to hold great powers unlike that of even any regular bitbeast. These types contain much more power and have a strong conscience that, some believe, can be awakened only by its true Master. Many have tried to wield them, but all but one survived in the attempt. According to past tests, the conscience can completely overtake—_

The rest of the paragraph was obscured by some random office supplies. In the background, she could faintly hear Boris saying something like, "—to Moscow, Russia. Yes, there. In a week? That's too long. Set up a private jet for—" but she didn't listen to the rest. This article intrigued her. She read beneath it…

_--only a few of these in existence, making them virtually invaluable. In the past, only three have ever been recorded in history. However, two of the three are known to have been destroyed, while the other's whereabouts are unknown—_

"Ahem."

Mina glanced up indifferently at Boris. "What?"

He stared at her from beneath his purple bangs. "Get home and pack your bags. We're leaving for Moscow tomorrow."

* * *

-

"A private boarding school in Moscow?" Her father gazed at her questioningly as she folded her clothes and placed them in her duffel bag.

"Yeah. It's for the best of the best, you know." She avoided his gaze, fearing she might give something away.

Her dad furrowed his brow. "But on such short notice? And in Moscow too, that's so far away… and for 'the best of the best?' No offense sweetie—"she flinched. She knew what was coming, and it sure as hell meant offense. "—but your grades our really nothing that special. I mean, I'd understand if it were Brooklyn—"

"Oh, of course. Perfect little Brooklyn." Her father glared at her. "You'd be better off if you took a page out of his book—"

"Well _maybe_ I don't _want_ to be like him Ever think of that?" Mina's father looked at her, shocked. He closed his eyes, sighing deeply.

She discreetly slipped her beyblade in her bag beneath a shirt, followed by her ripcord and launcher.

"Look dad, just do this for me. _Please_. I've never asked you for _anything_. So just this once—let me go there." _Come on, please let my suck-up act work…_

Her dad sighed again. "Alright kiddo. Don't disappoint me."

She zippered her bag shut. "I won't."

-

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Yeah, I know I'm interrupting , but just read this, okay? I forgot to mention this, but this story is AFTER G-revolution, so Brooklyn has mellowed out a lot. Mina just doesn't really know, since their whole dispute got in the way… that's all. And if you missed the author's note ontop, THE PAIRING IS KAIOC! Not daichiOC.

* * *

-

"We have reached Moscow, Russia. The temperature is 16º Fahrenheit. Please keep your seatbelts fastened until the aircraft completely stops." 

Mina peered out of the oval window. White—white—more white… she'd give anything to see a speck of black. Snow completely covered every inch of ground. Not even the black roads could be seen beneath it.

She hugged her heavy black jacket tighter around her. _Man, it's cold here. Why couldn't we have gone someplace warmer, like Hawaii?_

"Get up. We're leaving." Boris said curtly. _Well, _some_body's in a great mood…_

Mina slowly stood up, her muscles aching from sitting so long. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming purple-freak…"

She dragged her bag from beneath the seat and walked out into the aisle. They took the stairs out of the plane (you know, the ones that come out of that little door thingy?) and stepped out.

Snow was falling all around in flurries, the freezing wind knowing at her uncovered face. She shivered. It was _way_ colder Japan had ever been. _Joy._

"Follow me."

Boris strode away from her towards a shiny black limo, where there was somebody in the driver's seat, as well as an additional person in the back. She jogged towards it and seated herself in the back, where Boris had already entered. She took a moment to look at the man beside Boris.

He was an old man with grey hair that was slicked back. He had an air of professionality and coolness. He wore long black coat, velvet gloves, and other expensive-looking clothes. She scowled. _Probably some rich aristocrat… I don't like him. _

"Mina, let me introduce you to my partner… Voltaire Hiwatari."Mina's eyes widened a bit. _Hiwatari… that sounds familiar. Where have I heard that…?_

She furrowed her brow slightly. _Oh… he's one of those stupid guys who hangs out with Brooklyn. What was his name again… Ken? Karl… oh, Kai. That's it._

"Nice to meet ya." She said, trying to act just a little polite.

"…of course. You're Mina Kingston, no?" She raised an eyebrow.

"That's me." Voltaire gave a sort of half-smirk half-cruel-smile.

"Ah, yes. I've heard much about you." _ Me? What's to tell about me?_

"What sort of things, may I ask?" _Keep on his good side, now…_

His shiny eyes bore into hers. "Boris tells me that you are to be his newest apprentice. Isn't that right?"

"Uh, yeah."

His put on his creepy smile again. "Then I wish you luck. You'll need it."

"Yeah, sure."

Mina looked away, wanting more than anything for this creepy old guy to go away. She heard Boris say, "This is it."

She looked out of the window, not having been taking in her surroundings since they left the airport. Before them was a creepy looking place, built in an old fashioned way. It looked like a mix between a church and a castle. Snow had iced the roof until it was invisible beneath it.

Mina gulped. It looked like some sort of building from a horror movie. The dark clouds and flashes of lightning in the background were _not_ helping.

She looked back up to see Boris and Voltaire looking at her. "Welcome to Balkov Abbey."

* * *

Yays! I finally finished the chapter! Whoohoo! Oh, and I promise that Kai will make a brief appearance in the next chapter. No, he's not gonna be in the Abbey with Mina and they fall in love and blah blah blah. But you'll catch a glimpse of his gorgeousness. faints Ooh yeah!! Anyway, hoped the chapter wasn't too crappy… 

Review please!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Me no own Beyblade.

* * *

- 

-

It was late; the sun had already started to set, the moon gaining radiance by the minute. The streetlamps were beginning to turn on, illuminating the way for anyone still out. Most people had already retreated into their houses.

Brooklyn trudged his way home, beyblade in hand, still hot.

He gave a sigh. "Geez, dad's gonna kill me. It's already seven, and I promised I'd be home in time for dinner."

He reached his front yard, and then swung the front door open. "Hey, I'm home!"

Brooklyn waited for his sister to come down with her usual string of colorful insults (who would later be yelled at by dad). But it never came.

_Weird. Maybe she's out somewhere…? She's been gone a lot lately._

He made his way into the kitchen, scratching his head. "Heheh, hey, dad." His father looked up. Remembering that his son had broken his curfew, his face turned serious. "Brooklyn, I _told_ you to be back by five _at the latest._ It's already seven, you should know better—"

"Sorry, sorry. I lost track of time, it won't happen again."

His father gave a sigh. "That's something I'd have expected from Mina, not you."

Brooklyn looked toward the table where his cold dinner sat. He looked at Mina's seat that was beside his. It was empty.

"Hey dad," he said uncertainly.

"Hmm?"

"Where is Mina, anyway?"

"Oh yes, she left earlier today."

"Oh."

…

"So… where'd she leave to?"

His father scratched his head. "She left for some prestigious school in Moscow, I believe."

…

"And you just told me this now?"

"Well… I didn't think you'd mind that much." Brooklyn shook his head. _Geez, he's so forgetful these days… must be getting old…"_

"You think I'm so heartless that I wouldn't want to see off my little sis?" he said in mock hurt.

"No, no."

Brooklyn furrowed his brow. "But don't you think it's kinda weird, just leaving for Moscow on such short notice?"

"Well yes, that's what I said. But I couldn't stop her, you know Mina. And she seemed to really want to go…"

Brooklyn was tiring of this conversation and decided to just drop it. "Okay, I get it.

-

-

* * *

- 

-

"GET UP!"

Beads of sweat rolled down her face as she panted. She was on her knees, her body trembling from the strain. Slowly, she pushed her body upwards until she was on her feet.

_Defeat to our enemies, victory is life. Defeat to our enemies—_

"Good. Now do it again."

Mina closed her eyes and exhaled. She set up her blade and launched it. The machines in the room surrounded her in a circle, leaving all her sides vulnerable. As the chunks of scrap metal soared towards her, Mina willed her blade to intercept as many as possible.

"Destroy them all." She increased her speed, her blade streaking around the room, tearing through the metal like butter. Her blade was nearly invisible, worming its way around her, attempting to defend from all sides.

_Defeat our enemies, victory is life. Defeat our enemies, victory is life…_

Whoosh! A stray piece of metal soared past her arm, slicing it open with its jagged edges. Her black shirt soon soaked through with her own blood, but Mina didn't even flinch. "Stay focused. Let nothing interfere."

Boris watched his apprentice, a smirk on his face. _That's right… you are the ultimate weapon._

The machines stopped ejecting metal, and Mina's beyblade cut through the last target. "Enough." She fell to her knees, her clothes soaked with sweat and blood. White spots appeared all around her as she drifted out of consciousness. Her last thought before her head met the ground was:

_Defeat our enemies, victory is life. Brooklyn… you are my enemy._

_-_

* * *

_-_

"So she's gone, huh."

Brooklyn and his friends were hanging around Max's bey-shop, idly watching Tyson and Daichi face off.

"Yep, she's gone." Daichi looked up, thanks to his insanely short attention span. "Huh? Who's gone?"

"Mina, my little sis." said Brooklyn.

"Mina—Mina— sounds familiar. What's she look like?" said Daichi. _I know I've heard that name somewhere…_

"Reddish hair, brown eyes, one hell of a spitfire—"

"Oh, the girl in the woods! I remember her now!"

Brooklyn raised his eyebrow. "You know her?"

"Yeah! I was out in the woods with Strata Dragoon—training you know—and I just heard this noise, right? And I see her beyblading—"

"Wait a minute, beyblading?" Brooklyn said skeptically. "Since when does she beyblade? She hates beyblading."

"Well, I know what I saw. I gave her some tips and stuff, and thanks to your truly, she'll be awesome—"

"Nobody can be awesome if it's _you_ teaching." scoffed Tyson.

"Say what?!"

"Well what to you expect, you already lost the beybattle!"

"Did not, I just put it on pause and you cheated!"

"How did _I_—"

At this point, everyone else had drowned them out. "So, Mina's a blader now, huh. Weird. I guess that explains why she's been gone so much…"

Kai looked up. "Brooklyn. Where did you say she went?"

Brooklyn scratched his head. "Uh, I think Dad said she was going to some boarding school in Moscow…"

Kai's eyes widened. "Moscow?"

"Yep."

Kai furrowed his brow in thought. "So she's beyblading now… and she just suddenly left for Moscow. That looks suspicious."

Tala sat up, alert. "Did your dad meet with anyone before your sister left? You know, like someone from the school, or something?"

"Well, he said something about some guy with purple hair—"

Kai cursed.

"We need to get to Moscow. And soon."

-

* * *

- 

"I think it's time we tested your skills against one of my other… students." Mina looked up and nodded mutely.

Boris led her to an arena in a large stone room, one of the rare rooms that had windows in it. _They have bars on them…_

Mina dismissed the thought and took her place at one end of the Bey-dish. A boy a couple of years older than her took his place opposite her. Boris grinned sadistically. "Neo here is one of my most accomplished students. I'm interested to see how you hold against him."

Mina's gaze never wavered as she stared him down, not really registering Boris's words.

_He is my enemy._

"This battle shall commence in 3…2…1…Now!"

Mina launched at lightning quick speed, aiming for his blade in the air. Her blade crashed into his in midair, sending it flying towards the edge. He managed to hang on by a thread and landed on the inner edge of the dish.

"Heh. Not bad, girlie." The old Mina would have retorted with some creative insult, letting her anger consume her. But she stayed silent.

"Let's see how you take this!" Neo sent his blade hurtling towards hers at breakneck speed.

"So hasty… it will cost you." Mina's beyblade seemed to vanish, and Neo's blade zoomed past thin air and flew into the air.

"_Now."_ Mina's blade reappeared in the air, plunging down towards Neo's blue blade. It smashed down into the top of his blade, sending it hurling towards the ground. BOOM! The dish disappeared in a cloud of dust upon impact.

"W-what happened?" Neo said numbly, as the dust started to clear. His answer cam in the form of a shattered blade, wedged deep down into a crack in the dish.

Mina's beyblade contently spun away in the unaffected area of the dish. "That was disappointing." she said shortly. And she walked away.

_Defeat our enemies, victory is life._

_-_

_-_

* * *

_-_

_- _

Yay, I finally finished. Did that suck too bad? Sorry if the beybattle sucked, but I really hate writing them. They. Are. Sooo. Boring. They're only good in the actual anime, when you can actually see them happening. Oh well, enough of my complaints. Just like I promised, you see some Kai here. Not a lot, but hopefully enough to satisfy your hunger of six chapters with our favorite stripe-cheeked blader. Hmm, for some reason, this seemed too short. Oh well, I'm too tired to write more.

Oh yeah, was that phrase right? "Defeat to our enemies, victory is life," I know it's something like that. I think that's the phrase that Boris engraved in all those abbey kids' brains. If I'm wrong, correct me. And Review!!! Reviews are good. Very good. :D


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade.

* * *

- 

-

It was cold.

The stone walls enclosed her in a small room, holding only a small bed and a desk. Though were no windows to see out of, the lone figure in the room already knew it was snowing. The freezing air seeped through the thick walls. The darkness was only penetrated by a single candle burning on the desk beside a black beyblade. Beside that was a picture of a happy looking family. One of the faces had been cut out.

The candlelight danced in a pair of amber eyes on the bed.

Mina sat motionlessly on the bed, her elbows propped up on her knees as her hand cradled her cheek. She was blankly staring into space. It would be an hour before _he'd_ come back. And what was there to do in such a bare room. Her gaze locked onto the blade sitting innocently on the desk.

Her eyes narrowed.

Knock. Knock.

The iron door squeaked horribly as it slowly swung open. She winced. Boris's face appeared in the doorway. She didn't bother to look up.

"Get your things and meet me at the entrance. We're leaving."

Mina raised an eyebrow. "So soon?" She'd barely been at the abbey for a month. _So he's putting his plan into action already… so hasty. _She frowned. _We shouldn't be leaving until at least another few weeks. There must be something that's come up._

Boris said nothing, but shut the door in her face. She gave a small smirk. "Typical Boris." She stood up. Mina pocketed her blade and looked around. There would be no need to pack—she had no other belongings here.

"I won't miss this place." She strode across the small room and swung the door open. The few bladers who still lived in the abbey were leaving their rooms as well. _Weird. We're _all _leaving. _She was about to walk out the door to join the trickle of bladders exiting the abbey, when she stopped.

She paused for a moment and looked back toward the desk. She walked back.

She placed her hand on the top of the elaborate picture frame. She observed it quietly. That picture had been taken years ago, when her family had still been whole. She gazed down upon her mother's cheerful face, amber eyes twinkling; her father's tender look directed toward her mother, his hand wrapped around her waist; the figure who'd head had been scribbled out; her own smile…

She turned the picture face-down. Then she walked out of the room, not sparing the photo a backwards glance.

-

* * *

- 

**At the airport:**

The group sat impatiently at the airport in the uncomfortable rows of chairs. Rain poured in a deluge outside the huge windows. Thundered rumbled outside and lightning flashed, illuminated the noisy airport.

The eight kids sat in the rows of chairs in terminal 65. Ray and Kai looked rather bored, Kenny was fidgeting with his laptop, Max was looking piteously at Brooklyn, who looked blankly at the window. Daichi was watching Tyson and Hilary as if they were a mildly interesting TV show, who were _patiently_ awaiting their plane's arrival.

"Are we _going_ yet?"

Hillary whacked Tyson's head. "We have to wait for the flight, idiot!"

"But we've been waiting for hours!"

"It's not my fault the plane's not here!"

"But when is the flight gonna _be_ here?"

"How should I know?!"

"Would you two shut up?" Brooklyn looked particularly disgruntled as he fidgeted in his seat.

Max looked at him consolingly. "Hey, we'll get your sis back. Besides, we don't even know for sure if she's with Boris. She might actually be at that boarding school, and we worried for nothing—"

Brooklyn said nothing. Kai was the one to reply, "_We already confirmed that she was with Boris._ And if this damn plane doesn't come soon—"

"See! I'm not the only one!" chimed in Tyson.

"Shut UP!"

Max sweatdropped pitifully. "Just trying to be reassuring here, since when was that a crime…"

"Attention passengers—" the group quieted down to hear the intercom. "Flight 65—" they leaned forward in anticipation, "—has been canceled. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Silence.

"WHAAAT?!"

-

* * *

- 

**At the Airport:**

Mina disembarked the plane from Moscow, along with a small crowd of others. Ther were some random tourists, the few kids other then herself from the, and Boris (whose purple hair had been covered with a hat).

Of the handful of kids from the abbey, two of them stood out. One had short black hair and deep blue eyes. His skin was paper white, and he was a good six inches taller than her. He walked quickly, a blank look on his face. The other had golden blond hair and tan skin, which was unusual for anybody who was at the abbey (including Mina). He had warm, honey brown eyes and had a small grin on his face as he walked beside her. Boris had informed her that they would be on her "team," or whatever he had said.

They blended in with the crowd, passing by the terminals. Terminal 68 (hardly anyone sat in there) Terminal 67 (almost every chair was occupied) Terminal 66, Terminal 65…

Hearing a commotion in the terminal to her left, she raised her eyebrows as she turned her head to see a noisy group of kids her age, one of whom seemed to be yelling at a kid with a red hat. She ignored them and kept walking.

-

* * *

- 

**Again, at the Airport:**

"OW! Quit it Hillary!" said Tyson, shielding his head with his arms.

"Maybe I wouldn't have to hit you if you would keep your fat mouth shut! Now everyone's looking this way!"

"That's mostly your fault! _You_ started yelling at _me_!"

"I only yelled at you because you were yelling!"

"Exactly! You only made it worse—"

The dejected group didn't bother to break the two apart. "So," began Ray, "when's the next flight?"

Kenny replied discouraged, "In about a week, I believe—"

Tyson joined the conversation. "Another week? But we waited _three weeks_ for this flight, now we have to wait more—"

"We could use my private jet…"

"Well you'll have to wait Tyson!" yelled Hilary, jumping on another chance to scream at him.

"Wait, private jet?" said Max.

"…then why didn't we use that in the first place?" said Ray.

Kai shrugged.

"…okay then. We'll use the jet!"

Brooklyn sighed. _How did I end up with these idiots…?_

_-_

* * *

_- _

**In Moscow: (I'm skipping the jet ride)**

Snow was falling heavily outside, the stormy gray clouds above stirring wildly. The group stood outside the abbey. The building towered above them, stony grey and foreboding. Kai was looking up at it with an odd look in his eyes.

"This is it," breathed Tyson warily. "C'mon."

They stepped inside the menacing building. It was dark, very dark. Hilary, Kai, and Max pulled out flashlights to guide their way through the unlit hallway. The silence inside was ominous. The only sound was their echoing footsteps on the stone below. Finally, someone broke the utter silence.

"This doesn't feel right," murmured Kai. "If Boris was really here with Mina, there should be some noise, _anything._"

No one had any reply to that. They kept on waling, until they reached a problem.

The hallway branched off into other corridors, with numerous doors in each one. Tyson gulped.

"We'll have to split up," said Brooklyn.

Hilary sighed. "I always hated that line…"

Brooklyn went on, "Tyson, you can go with the chief and Hilary to the corridor on the left. Max, Ray, you go right. Me and Kai will go straight on. If you find anything, just shout."

No one argued. They all set off to their own hallways.

Kai and Brooklyn set off down the hallway. When they cam to the first door, Brooklyn yanked it open.

They were standing in a circular room. The walls had tiny slots in them, as if they were meant to shoot something out of. Kai ran the flashlight all over the room. He moved the light down to the floor. There were nicks and scratched all over the floor, as if something sharp had been thrown to the floor over and over. He continued to peruse the floor with his flashlight when something caught his eye.

His eyes narrowed.

There was a dark splotch on the floor. Something that looked horribly like blood. Kai stiffened.

"Check this out," he called to Brooklyn. He came over to see.

His fists clenched. "That's definitely blood…." He shook his head. "But there's no guarantee that it's recent." Brooklyn stood up. "C'mon, let's keep going."

They exited the room and proceeded to the door opposite the one they had just come out of. This room was much bigger, and was filled with beyblading dishes built into the floor. Unlike the hallway, there were a few windows in this room, and dim light flooded the area.

Brooklyn walked over to one of the beydishes. "They've obviously been used. There scratch marks and dents all over them. But there's no way of knowing if they were used recently…"

Kai was on the other side of the room, observing a different dish. He whistled. "Someone here sure can pack a punch." The dish was totally shattered.

Brooklyn stiffened on the other side of the room. He said aloud, "Kai… when was the last time you _know_ this abbey was used?"

Kai looked up curiously. "The first year I was with the bladebreakers… that was the last time. So that was over three years ago. Why?"

Brooklyn brushed his hands over the stone floor. "Three years… in a time period that long, there should be a huge layer of dust over everything. But there's not…"

Kai's eyes widened. "You're right…" His eyebrows furrowed. "But if somebody's obviously been here, then why are they gone _now_?"

Brooklyn shook his head. "I don't know… I just don't know…"

"Hey, we found something!" Brooklyn looked up at the sound of Tyson's loud voice. He quickly sprinted out of the room with Kai close behind. He followed the sound of the voice and skidded to a stop in front of an open door.

"Check this out," said Tyson. They were inside someone's bedroom. There was an untidy bed and a rickety desk. On the desk was the stub of a candle.

It was still burning.

"Whoever was here must have been here recently—and left in a hurry too. Sometime earlier today, I'd guess," said Kenny.

But Brooklyn was no longer looking at the candle.

"What's that?" he murmured. Beside the candle stub was something else. There was what looked like a picture frame on the desk, lying face down. Hurriedly, he strode over to the desk and picked the object up.

His breath caught in his throat.

"Brooklyn? What's wrong?" said Ray.

His gripped tightened on the picture frame.

"She was here all right." he said quietly.

He couldn't stop staring at the empty spot in the photo where he should have been.

_What have I done?_

_-_

_- _

* * *

Yes, I know, I have no excuse for not updating in forever. What can I say, I'm a procrastinator. I know this chapter sucked because I rushed through it and all, and it was mostly only at the stupid airport. So please don't kill me! I like my life! T.T 

And good news! I actually have a plot for this story now! So at least I know what's gonna happen now. So, yays?

Review please! I'd like to know that my efforts at creating a fanfiction aren't in vain…


	9. Chapter 9

Mina sat in the living room of their hotel suite, blowing bubbles with her bubblegum and staring at the wall. In other words, completely bored. _I'm stuck with my two teammates—one of which never shuts up, and the other of which is a total emo asshole. And Boris too. Isn't this a party…_

"Aw, come _on_! We already left the stupid abbey! Why do we still have to do all your stupid training exercises?!" yelled Riko, smoothing his spiky blond hair.

Boris glared. "Watch your mouth you insolent brat. These special training exercises were carefully designed in order to—"

"Blah, blah, blah. Does your mouth ever stop moving?"

Mina sighed. _If anyone's mouth never stops moving, it's yours._

Kaden flipped his black hair. "If anyone's mouth never stops moving, it's yours.

Her bubble popped._ Huh. So now he's an emo, telepathic asshole…_

Mina, now completely ignoring the now arguing trio, flopped on the expensive leather couch and grabbed the remote off the marble stand. She pressed the on button and flipped the channel to some Beyblading station. It was showing reruns of some last year's tournament, with two redheads fighting. As she got a close-up of the blader's faces, she gave a start.

"Hey, that's Daichi!"

Her team stopped arguing and turned to looked at her.

"What?"

She blew another bubble. "Nothin'"

"Oh. Okay."

They went back to arguing. Mina tsked and glued her eyes to the T.V. The fight had apparently ended, as the commercials had now started. Sighing in disappointment, she leaned on the red velvet pillow and idly watched the commercials for new launchers and ripcords.

"Hmm?"

A new commercial started up. The referee for the World tournament showed up on screen.

"Don't miss the 23rd annual Beyblade World tournament! Entries from all over the world will be accepted! Just join the regional tournament closest to you, and you could be on the way to being in the World Tournament! Each regional team will consist of a minimum of three members. Fans, don't miss this spectacular event, starting July 10th!"

"Hey, Boris! Is this the tournament you were talking about?" called Mina, twirling a strand of reddish hair around her finger.

Boris turned and frowned. "Of course, how many other—"

"—world tournaments are there?' C'mon old man, start rethinking your lines. They're boring me to death." Said Riko, smirking.

"If they make him die, then by all mean don't stop, old fart."

"Who asked you, Kaden?!"

"Old fart?!"

Mina sighed again. _And Boris expects me to work with _them_… I wonder if my _dear_ brother Brookie and his friends will be joining…_

_- _

* * *

_- _

They had searched everywhere. They'd searched every freaking inch of the abbey, but there was nothing—no hints to Mina's whereabouts. The only thing they found was the room that was supposedly Mina's—and the picture. Finally, with no further leads, Brooklyn and the group had finally returned to Japan.

Brooklyn clenched his jaw and punched the wall. It had already been four months. "Damn it… DAMN IT!"

He just couldn't understand. Why would Boris want Mina. Had she been tricked, or kidnapped…?

Or had she left of her own free will?

Brooklyn clutched his head.

"Why do I even care? It's not like I even liked her. So what if she's missing…"

But even so, he felt a guilty pang in his chest, remembering the picture back at the abbey. The one with his face cut out.

"Guess she hates me after all…"

-

* * *

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"Aw, cheer up Brooklyn! Mina will turn up eventually! C'mon, the tournament's coming up real soon!"

They were sitting in the Beyblading Park. The weather was bright and sunny, a perfect day. He scowled. _The weather is mocking me. I know it is._ Brooklyn sighed, annoyed and leaned down on the park bench. Brooklyn resisted the urge to whack Tyson, but as usual, Hillary beat him to it.

"Oh, shut up! Can't you see he's worried about his sister?"

"Well, _excuse me_ for trying to snap him out of his emo-mode!"

"You are _such_ an inconsiderate pig!"

Brooklyn stretched out on the bench.

What Hilary said was partly true; he was, _deep_ down, worried about Mina. But not so much anymore. After locking himself away in his room for a few hours, he had thoroughly convinced himself that Mina had definitely _not _gone off on her own free will, and that he had nothing to do with her disappearance. After all, what had he done to her?

_Like you could forget,_ nagged an annoying voice in the back of his head.

He pushed the annoying (but truthful) voice out of his head, and instead pondered on what Tyson had said. It was true; the regional tournament was only a few days away. Maybe he should take his advice and join—after all Beyblade had always been a good distraction.

He could forget about his little sister for the time being.

-

* * *

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"Welcome, welcome to the European Beyblade regional tournament! Bladers from all over the region of come here today, hoping to get a spot on the three-man team, who will proceed to the World tournament!"

Boris was giving some sort of prep talk about the tournament. "You should be able to clear the first round, no problem. But the second round is the semifinals, which will consist of six one-on-one battles. The weaklings will have filtered out by then, so you might be going up against some of the members of the Barthez Battalion from last year, but they shouldn't be much of a threat."

Kaden scoffed. "_All _these bladers are weaklings. Looks like this competition will be no fun at all."

Boris scowled. "Never under—"

"—estimate your opponent, or else you'll be defeated. We know all your lectures by heart. How could we not, you say them all five times a day, it's always the same…"

"_Contestants who are competing in Block A, please enter the arena through the east wing. The competition will be starting in two minutes." _

"Shit, that's me. Later losers!" called Riko over his shoulders as he ran to his Block.

"Good riddance…" muttered Kaden, opening a bottle of water.

Mina smiled coyly. "Aw c'mon, you know you'll miss him. After all, everyone knows about your little… affair."

He choked on his water. "The hell?!"

"_Contestants who are competing in Block B, please enter the arena through the west wing. The competition will be starting in two minutes." _

She walked away cackling. "Wish me luck, Kay-chan!"

She could hear him cursing at her from behind.

Smiling to herself, she entered Block B, where about a dozen other bladders stood around a giant beydish. Squeezing herself into an open spot, she listened to the referee as he announced, "Okay! The first round of this tournament is simply a system of elimination. All bladers will battle simultaneously until only one blader remains! The winner will proceed to the semi-finals!"

The giant screen above the stadium zoomed in on the faces of each of the bladers. _How tacky… well, at least this round is simple enough. Doesn't look like it'll be a challenge either…_

The last part of her thoughts she was confident about. Most of the kids around the beydish were either scrawny or amateur-looking. She smirked. _But it wouldn't hurt to see the looks on their faces when their Beyblade gets turned to dust…_

"Ready? 3…2…1… LET IT RIP!"

She smoothly launched her blade, managing to knock two out of the air before they even hit the beydish. "And getting off to an aggressive start, Mina knocks bladers Martin and Kevin off the playing field!"

The giant screen gave a close-up of two boys, one of which looked dumbfounded, and the other in tears. She rolled her eyes as the screen came on her own face, and held her beyblade off to the side of the dish as the other bladers battled eachother. Whenever a blade came towards her Kyuubi, she lazily whirled out of the way. She was about to finally finish the rest off when she heard something.

**_Let me out..._**

Mina froze. "Who--who said that?!" The boys around her gave her a strange look.

_**Free me... let me out!**_ She failed to notice the reddish glow around her beyblade.

"C'mon you coward! Why don't you stop dodging and start blading like a real beyblader?!"

She jerked out of her trance, and her amber eyes slid over to one of the few boy that were still left.

"Well, if you insist." She gave her hand a little flick.

In a blur, her blade shot at his blade so fast, it was next to invisible, except for a faint reddish light. One moment his blade and her blade were spinning at opposite ends of the dish, and the next, fragments of metal and plastic rocketed up into the air in a cloud of dust.

Not letting the dust cloud bother her, she circled the beydish at the same speed and easily destroyed the remaining three blades. By the time the dust disappeared, all there was left were burning hot scraps and bits of metal and a single black beyblade.

Mina blinked. "But I--what?" She blinked in confusion. She knew that even her blade couldn't have done _that._

"The referee blinked in confusion for a moment, before announcing cheerfull, "W-well! It seems we have a winner! The winner from Block B is Mina Kingston!"

Still slightly numb, she bent over the dish and scooped up her blade, ignoring some of the horrified and awestruck looks the defeated boys were giving her.

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Annnnnd, cut! Okay, if you want to kill me for not updating… don't. Please? Then I won't be able to update! So it wouldn't be a good idea to kill me! Heheh, right?

Anyways, sorry for the really, _really,_ late update. I just had your typical case of writer's block, and was seriously considering rewriting this story. No that I'm not still considering it… but oh well. There you go, Kaden and Riko, Mina's teammates. And for another excuse not to kill me, I'll tell you that Kai will definitely be meeting Mina in a few chapters after the real world tournament begins.

Review please!


	10. Please Read!

Yeah... So I'm not dead. I know, I have not updated in forever, and I apologize for that because I have _no_ excuse whatsoever. I have basically lost interest in beyblade, although anime still rocks my socks (sorry beyblade, I have replaced you with Naruto and Bleach). Soooo, I will either discontinue this, or if I have the time, I'll rewrite it to un-suckify it. Probably the latter, and if I do decide to rewrite it, then I hope you'll see an improvement, although there will probably be a longer wait between chapters.

Anyways, if I get any feedback on this, I'll probably take this story down in the next week, and then I will _maybe_ start the rewrite. So if I get enough encouragement, then you'll see the first chapter up within a month or so.

Laters:)


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